Interaction of a supersonic, radiatively cooled plasma jet with an ambient medium

An experimental investigation into the interaction of a supersonic, radiatively cooled plasma jet with argon gas is presented. The jet is formed by ablation of an aluminum foil driven by a 1.4 MA, 250 ns current pulse in a radial foil Z-pinch configuration. The outflow consists of a supersonic (Mach number similar to 3-5), dense (ion density n(i) similar to 10(18) cm(-3) highly collimated (half-opening angle similar to 2 degrees-5 degrees) jet surrounded by a lower density halo plasma moving with the same axial velocity as the jet. The addition of argon above the foil leads to the formation of a shock driven by the ablation of halo plasma, together with a bow-shock driven by the dense jet. Experimental data with and without the presence of argon are compared with three-dimensional, magneto-hydrodynamic simulations using the GORGON code. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3685607]